James Hamupanda Kauluma (1 July 1933 – 4 April 2007) was a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n human rights activist and sixth bishop of the

Anglican Diocese of Namibia The Diocese of Namibia is part of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, which is itself part of the Anglican Communion. The diocese, which covers the whole country of Namibia, was originally known as the Diocese of Damaraland. Most of the Anglic ...

. He was the first Namibian bishop of the Anglican diocese in the country.

Biography

Kauluma was born in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

. In 1949, he began studying at St. Mary's School in

Odibo Odibo is a village in the north of Namibia close to the Angolan border known for its Anglican mission ''St Mary''. It belongs to the Oshikango electoral constituency in the Ohangwena Region. Odibo is also an Archdeaconry in the Diocese of Nam ...

. He was baptised in 1951 at the age of 18. In 1953, he was recruited by the

South West African Native Labour Association The South West African Native Labour Association (SWANLA) was a labour contracting organisation which contracted primarily Ovambo people from Ovamboland in northern Namibia to work in the diamond mines in Namibia's southern ǁKaras Region. It was ...

(SWANLA) and was sent to work in the

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

mines in

Oranjemund Oranjemund (German for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town of 4,000 inhabitants situated in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border to South Africa. Histo ...

in the far south of the country. He studied at the Dorothea Mission in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

between 1958 and 1959, and in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, before returning to Namibia in 1964. In 1965 he travelled to Canada and the United States for further study, graduating with a BA degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

and an MA from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. He was ordained: made a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

on 22 June 1975 at the Church of the Ascension, Harrowby, Lincolnshire and, in 1977, was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

— both times by Colin Winter, Bishop of Damaraland-in-exile. He was elected Suffragan Bishop of Damaraland in 1977 and was consecrated a bishop at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, on 15 January 1978 by

Edward Knapp-Fisher Edward George Knapp-Fisher (8 January 19157 February 2003) was an Anglican bishop and scholar. Life Knapp-Fisher was born in Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom. His father was also an Anglican priest. He was educated at The King's School, Worc ...

(

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...

Assistant Bishop of London Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

), acting under commission from the Archbishop of Cape Town, assisted by the Bishop of Damaraland-in-exile, the Assistant Bishop of Damaraland, and others. Since the diocesan (Winter) and assistant (Wood) were both foreigners, they could be prevented from re-entering Namibia; whereas as a citizen, Kauluma could not. He returned to live in Namibia in 1978, after having lived abroad for 12 years. After the death of Colin Winter in 1981, Kauluma was elected diocesan bishop, the first Namibian to hold that office. In 1983, Kauluma received an honorary

doctorate of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

in New York. In 1986 Kauluma, along with the Lutheran bishop

Kleopas Dumeni Kleopas Hafeni Dumeni (born 3 October 1930, Oshituku, Nakayale, Ombalantu, Namibia) is a Namibian church leader and a bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. Dumeni is the son of Paulus Monima yaDumeni yaHipetekwa (b. 1902) ...

and the Roman Catholic bishop

Bonifatius Haushiku Bonifatius Haushiku or Hausiku (25 May 1932 – 12 June 2002) was a Namibian Roman Catholic religious leader. Early years Haushiku was born in Sambiu on 25 May 1932. He attended St. Josef's Teacher Training College in Döbra and St. Teresa's ...

, challenged a dusk-to-dawn curfew that South African authorities had imposed in Namibia. The bishops argued that the curfew violated the freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. Kauluma retired from public life in 1998 and died from prostate cancer on 4 April 2007 at the Windhoek Medi-Clinic. Denis Herbstein, writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', suggests that "he was not a good speaker but he was outspoken, writing to the Times in London about South Africa's occupation of the country".

Bibliography

*Pütz, Joachim, Heidi von Egidy & Perri Caplani. 1990. ''Namibia handbook and political who's who'', 2nd edn. Windhoek: Magus. *''Church of the Province of Southern Africa Clerical Directory, 1991/1992'', p. 222. *Bishopscourt Archives, ''Consecration of Bishops, 1847–1986''.

External links

* The African Activist Archive Project website includes a description and material of th
Southern African Christian Alliance
in Texas with newsletters with articles on Namibia including some by James Kauluma. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kauluma, James 1933 births 2007 deaths Ovambo people Anglican bishops of Damaraland Anglican bishops of Namibia 20th-century Anglican Church of Southern Africa bishops University of Toronto alumni New York University alumni Namibian expatriates in Canada Namibian expatriates in the United Kingdom Namibian expatriates in the United States Deaths from cancer in Namibia Namibian Anglican bishops